It is desirable to use renewable feedstocks (e.g., natural oil-derived fatty acids or fatty esters) as a source material for synthesizing industrially important organic compounds that have been conventionally manufactured from petroleum feedstocks. One useful reaction for modifying the structure of natural oil-derived feedstocks is metathesis. Metathesis is a catalytic reaction involving the rupture and reformation of carbon-carbon double bonds. When metathesis is applied directly to many natural oil-derived feedstocks, a mixture of products results. For example, when metathesis is applied to a mixture of fatty acid esters, the resulting metathesis products include a mixture of monoesters and diesters of various chain lengths. Due to the similarity in molecular weight and functionality of the products, it is difficult to separate the desired product (e.g., a particular chain length diester) from the other metathesis products. In view of the foregoing, what is desired is a method by which organic compounds may be readily synthesized from natural oil-derived feedstock materials.